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The number one rule for this forum! Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen. Eph 4:29 (NIV)Think before you post. Leave out the vulgarity, personal attacks and foul language!

Quote:

"However lofty the goals, if the means be depraved, the result must reflect that depravity." - Leonard E. Read

Lies are fragile. They require constant attentiveness to keep them alive. The exposure of a single truth can rip through an ocean of lies, evaporating it instantly. - Brandon Smith

If you want government to intervene domestically, you’re a liberal. If you want government to intervene overseas, you’re a conservative. If you want government to intervene everywhere, you’re a moderate. If you don’t want government to intervene anywhere, you’re an extremist. — Joe Sobran

It is no crime to be ignorant of economics, which is, after all, a specialized discipline and one that most people consider to be a ‘dismal science.' But it is totally irresponsible to have a loud and vociferous opinion on economic subjects while remaining in this state of ignorance. – Murray N. Rothbard

When one possessed of the Truth suffers from a heavy heart he is susceptible to a more dangerous affliction — the craving for power to eradicate error, to cause Truth to triumph by force. - Frank Chodorov

Where politicians flourish, long history has harshly taught us, people and their liberty wither. Where the state is god and the "public interest" worshipped, individual man will be found bleeding upon the altar. - Karl Hess

The accepted wisdom is that without the state, society would collapse into lawlessness and crime. In fact, lawlessness and crime define the very nature of the state and the society organized by it. - Bionic Mosquito

But the myth of the rule of law does more than render the people submissive to state authority; it also turns them into the state's accomplices in the exercise of its power. For people who would ordinarily consider it a great evil to deprive individuals of their rights or oppress politically powerless minority groups will respond with patriotic fervor when these same actions are described as upholding the rule of law. - John Hasnas

1. Name: Bluffdale
Location: CO149 over the Paluxy River, Erath County
Type and date: Fan Cable stay, 1891
Cable stay bridges are all the rage these days. From the boss-of-the-coastal-plains Fred Hartman Bridge over the Ship Channel to the soon-to-be-built “signature” Margaret Hunt Hill Bridge in Dallas, cable stay bridges are built to make a statement. The bridge books say the first cable stay bridge in the USA was built fairly recently, in 1970. Those books are published back east and they’re wrong, of course, for in 1891 Texas bridge engineer William Flinn built a cable stay bridge of his own design at Bluffdale. It served the area as the main highway crossing of the Paluxy River for decades, and stands to this day as a testament to the state’s history of great bridges.

Seminole Canyon is the canyon just East of the Pecos River. I can't find Devil's Canyon anywhere in the area There is the Devil's River North of Comstock on Hwy 163 which eventually feeds into the Amistad Reservoir.

The number one rule for this forum! Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen. Eph 4:29 (NIV)Think before you post. Leave out the vulgarity, personal attacks and foul language!

Quote:

"However lofty the goals, if the means be depraved, the result must reflect that depravity." - Leonard E. Read

Lies are fragile. They require constant attentiveness to keep them alive. The exposure of a single truth can rip through an ocean of lies, evaporating it instantly. - Brandon Smith

If you want government to intervene domestically, you’re a liberal. If you want government to intervene overseas, you’re a conservative. If you want government to intervene everywhere, you’re a moderate. If you don’t want government to intervene anywhere, you’re an extremist. — Joe Sobran

It is no crime to be ignorant of economics, which is, after all, a specialized discipline and one that most people consider to be a ‘dismal science.' But it is totally irresponsible to have a loud and vociferous opinion on economic subjects while remaining in this state of ignorance. – Murray N. Rothbard

When one possessed of the Truth suffers from a heavy heart he is susceptible to a more dangerous affliction — the craving for power to eradicate error, to cause Truth to triumph by force. - Frank Chodorov

Where politicians flourish, long history has harshly taught us, people and their liberty wither. Where the state is god and the "public interest" worshipped, individual man will be found bleeding upon the altar. - Karl Hess

The accepted wisdom is that without the state, society would collapse into lawlessness and crime. In fact, lawlessness and crime define the very nature of the state and the society organized by it. - Bionic Mosquito

But the myth of the rule of law does more than render the people submissive to state authority; it also turns them into the state's accomplices in the exercise of its power. For people who would ordinarily consider it a great evil to deprive individuals of their rights or oppress politically powerless minority groups will respond with patriotic fervor when these same actions are described as upholding the rule of law. - John Hasnas

Dang, Tom, I did your Denton County tour on a whim one afternoon. This one's going to take some planning. Thanks for the post.
If you're anywhere near Plano, come join us for Thursday night coffee. You'll feel right at home.

17. Name: Bullman
Location: CO301 over the Leon River, Hamilton County
Type and date: Bowstring arch, 1884
Early Texas communities built small wooden bridges that were washed away in floods. After the industrial revolution took hold late in the 19th century, longer, sturdier steel bridges could be ordered from bridge factories and shipped to Texas by rail. A few still stand, and the Bullman Bowstring is one of the most beautiful. Note: Access is on gravel roads.

I dropped by to visit my old friend today. I'm sorry to say that the graceful, historic 123 year old Bullman Bowstring is no more. It has been replaced with a brand new, A+ structure rated, low cost, absolutely generic concrete beam bridge.

15. Name: Percy V. Pennybacker
Location: Loop 360 over Town Lake, Travis County
Type and date: Steel Arch, 1982
After several decades in exile, bridge aesthetics made a triumphant return to Texas in the award winning Pennybacker. As a benefit of its good looks, it is quite dramatic to cross on a motorcycle. The designers were said to have chosen a steel alloy that would weather into a UT burnt orange – I don’t want to get anything started, but in certain lights it looks more maroon to me.

I wrote it - now help your fellow TWTs out with some illustrations! Pictures of you and your bike at these bridges, please! How long will it take to post ride photographs of all twenty bridges?

5. Name: Upper Harbor
Location: Navigation Blvd. over Tule Lake Channel, Nueces County
Type and date: Vertical lift, 1959
A great many of the historic drawbridges in the state have been replaced with “high” bridges rising above the ship traffic. The most impressive drawbridge ever build in the state is still in service, though. At the command of the bridge operators, the Navigation Blvd. Bridge lifts the road deck 138 feet. After riding across, be sure to stick around to watch it do some heavy lifting!

It's a big state and it'd been a while since I made it down to Corpus. The Upper Harbor lift bridge began to have operational problems in 2007 and was demolished and removed in early 2008. All that's on Navigation Blvd. now is a "Bridge Out" sign.

Man, you gotta get out & about and see these things before they're gone.

Welcome to the Two Wheeled Texans community! Feel free to hang out and lurk as long as you like. However, we would like to encourage you to register so that you can join the community and use the numerous features on the site. After registering, don't forget to post up an introduction!

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